TexMessage: Citizenship the next hurdle for immigration reform, with Texas GOP opposition

Good morning, TexMessagers! Should unauthorized immigrants get citizenship?

TEXclusive

The Senate today moves to the most politically sensitive part of the carefully crafted immigration deal — citizenship — including measures by the Texas senators that would strip away benefits contained in the “Gang of 8″ compromise.

Citizenship, the core debate on immigration reform, is the major sticking point for conservative Republicans like Sen. Ted Cruz.

Cruz has an amendment that would not provide a path to citizenship to any unauthorized immigrant–either those who entered illegally or those who overstayed visas. A second Cruz amendment on citizenship would prevent immigrants from receiving means-tested benefits such as Medicaid if they were unauthorized. A third amendment would limit family-based immigration, such as spouses applying to join their legal immigrant partners.

Cruz has previously battled for economic-based immigration, such as increasing the visas for highly skilled workers, arguing they have invented products and started businesses.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has considered amendments on border security, visas for certain workers, and worker status verification for employment.

Cruz’s partner in opposition to many features of the ‘Gang of Eight’ bill, John Cornyn also has several pending amendments, mostly focused on crime.

One amendment would deny the provisional status to any immigrant with a history of drunk driving or domestic abuse. Current unauthorized immigrants would gain provisional immigrant status, under the Gang of Eight version, once the border is considered secure.

A second Cornyn amendment would notify victims of a previously convicted criminal immigrant, if that person gained provisional status. A third amendment shares criminal and security information on certain immigrants with foreign governments.

Other pending Cornyn amendments include adding job opportunities to communities with a recently closed military base, and having the federal government reimburse local law enforcement for immigration detainee duties.

Overall, GOP-sponsored amendments have not fared well. Only 29 percent of the 65 amendments sponsored by a Republican senator have passed so far. Of those, nine were withdrawn. Ambitious amendments such as Cruz’s push to triple border security staff failed, while modest GOP amendments such as Cornyn’s push to study human trafficking succeeded.

”Greg Abbott is one of the very few politicians who does what he says he will do, and for that I admire him greatly.
Those who are critical of him for suing to defend us from federal over-reach should remember: the only other option is for Texas to declare independence.”